Whatever happened to ... Ex-superintendent enjoying retirement in Dallas

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo Former Hamilton County School Superintendent Jim Scales now lives in the Dallas area.

Question: Whatever happened to former Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Jim Scales?

Answer: Since being ousted as the county's schools chief in the summer of 2011, Scales and his wife sold their East Brainerd home and moved back to the Dallas area, where they had previously lived.

The Hamilton County Board of Education selected Scales as its superintendent in 2006 after Jesse Register was pushed to retirement a year before his contract expired. Register is now the superintendent of Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools.

But board members began to sour on Scales. And many preferred an insider -- not someone from out of state -- in the school district's top office. The board bought out Scales' contract, then promoted longtime school system administrator Rick Smith to the superintendent post.

Nowadays, Scales said, he and his wife are enjoying retirement.

"We're not really up to a whole lot," he said.

Though his departure from Chattanooga was tempestuous and high-profile, he's not resentful.

"We have lots of great friends and a lot of great positive memories from our five years there," he said.

This update was written by staff writer Kevin Hardy. Contact him at khardy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-2712.

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